This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for forming, filling and sealing packages, and more particularly to vertical form-fill-seal packaging methods and apparatus.
The invention is especially directed to the type of package forming, filling and sealing in which flexible packaging material is formed into tubing, the tubing being fed downwardly and transversely heat sealed at package length intervals, a quantity of the product with which the packages are to be filled being delivered into the lower end of the tubing to provide a fill for each package. It has been found that, in carrying out this type of packaging, if product drops down in the tubing on a seal before the seal has adequately set, the strain on the seal may be sufficient to spoil it. This invention is directed toward solving that problem.